Ashish specialize in shots like these but I am terrified of taking shots of people so I usually am content with taking pictures of objects in the safe confines of my house. Today while traveling to work, I couldn't stop myself from taking this picture; this guy was sitting on the seat in front of me with his father. This guy seems so relaxed; I wish I could capture the expressions of his dad as well. It is true no matter how old your kids grow, they still kids for you.

25th March 2009 :: Bicycle

If the roads in India were better than they are,
If people had better driving sense,
If bicycle riders were seen as people making a contibution towards cleaner air and not as irritants.

I'd have loved to ride a bicycle to office. Would have been lot fitter too
If...

24th March 2009 :: The leaf with a hole

This leaf fell from an almond tree in the compound of our housing society. I have see that almond tree by about 5 feet in the last 6 years but very soon it will be cut down to make illegal hutments. Well, not directly. MMRDA is taking a part of our compound for widening the Jogeshwari-Vikroli Link Road. I am told this part will be used to make a by lane which will eventually be encroached upon by people selling all sort of stuff and for making huts.

23rd March 2009 :: A smiling pirate

This is the favourite among all the shots I have posted and it is a shame that this one is blurred but the expressions in this are my favourite.

22nd March 2009 :: Pirate #2

Taking pictures of Manu is getting difficult. For some reason he is not as cool about getting photographed as before. Getting good quality pictures is even more difficult since most of the shots I take are in our house in available light which either mean images with noise or blurred images.

21st March 2009 :: Pirate of Caribbean...Somalia... no, Andheri

I want to have Pasta, said Manu when he saw us having pasta on Saturday morning. He didn't want the pasta we were having; he wanted to have the Sunfeast pasta. Actually he didn't want to have pasta at all. He wanted to have the gift that comes with it. “I'll open the packet and give you what is inside it. Do you still want to have pasta?” He said no feeling a little surprised at his good luck. He was expecting scary teeth since that is what he got in the previous three packs but this time he got an eye patch and he is thrilled to have one. He told me about the captain in Spongebob Squarepants who wears an eye patch and the character called “Patchy” that comes in every once in a while.

20th March 2009 :: I was a tree

I weigh more than I should for my height. I go for a walk almost every the morning and I don't eat food that usually makes you fat. The consumption of oil and butter in our house is very low compared to most people. We are not big eaters of rice and potato. In a nutshell we don't eat much of what a nutritionist asks you not to eat when you visit one for losing weight. I don't have a thyroid problem either.

19th March 2009 :: Leaves in the sun

Growing on the boundary wall of our housing complex, this and a lot of tiny plants were removed recently and the stone wall was painted white. I personally preferred the wall with all the plants but I guess someone didn't.

18th March 2009 :: More leaves

Some of you are wondering of the story I mentioned yesterday was true or my imagination. The fact that there was a man with a torch up his arse was true but how it went up there was my imagination.

17th March 2009 :: A torch up your arse

Salim Khan (name changed) of Bandra, Mumbai went to a bachelor party and returned home with a return gift- a torch (flash light for Americans). Unfortunately the torch was not in his hand but up his arse which was taken out by doctors from his intestine after a surgery a couple of days later. I was wondering what might have happened

16th March 2009 :: Tiny leaves and the sun

These are some determined plants and they grown at the most inhospitable of places. These tinly loeaves are growing on the rocks behind our housing complex. I guess if life wasn't so detirmed to find a way yo survive, there would have been a lot less trees around us.

15th March 2009 :: ...while I call you a fool

For quite some time, we have stopped buying juice packs because they usually don't have anything good. This is one example and although the label on the carton says Tropicana 100% as you can see in yesterday's post, it is not what one would assume it is. You can see it has orange juice concentrate, water and what is more, even artificial flavours.

14th March 2009 :: Lend me your ear...

May be I am not as careful while buying stuff as others are or maybe it is a little difficult to read whet you should read on the pack of anything you buy. There has been times when I have come back home and feel cheated by what I have bought. If the label of a tetrapack of juice says 100%, a natural assumption is that it will contain 100% fruit juice and not the usual sugary water generally pedalled in the name of fruit juices.

13th March 2009 :: So what is holi?

Dussehra is the celebration of killing of Ravan by Lord Ram, Diwali is the celebration of return on Lord Ram to Ayodhya and janmashtami is the celebration of Lord Krshna's birthday. These are some facts most people know but there is an increasing population that doesn't know way we celebrate certain festivals. A lot of people won't know why holi or rakshabandhan is celebrated, what is the story behind the festivals. Maybe now you should head over to wikipedia to find out the stories behind these festivals.

12th March 2009 :: Someone stole my door!

The sparrow forgot to lock the door on her way out and guess what happens when she returns? Someone stole the door.

11th March 2009 :: HAPPY HOLI

We have a tendency to twist things around when it suits us. Holi and Diwali are two festivals that kids enjoy the most. Diwali because of the firecrackers and Holi for all the colours and water. Now I am a kid and I love firecrackers but my mommy won't let me play with them till Diwali. So what do I do? I invent choti Diwali, a day before the actual Diwali. It is the trial run for Diwali and my mom will let me have at least a few crackers. I have not heard anyone celebrating choti rakhi or choti janmashtami or any other festival where you don't have the fun element attached.

10th March 2009 :: Sparrow in the hole

I don't know the purpose of these pipes in the wall separating our housing society from the one next door, but they do serve as the home to these sparrows. Manu however insists that rats live in these holes and everytime we pass this place, he tells me there are big rats living in these and that he has seen them too.

7th March 2009 :: Levi's the red tab

We have discussed the Levi's of present, I would like to discuss the Levi's of past. Way back early 90s when the other designer brands had not come to India, a pair of Levi's bought by a relative returning from Hong Kong or Singapore was the ultimate statement as far as jeans were concerned.

6th March 2009 :: Levi's button

Levi's was “the” brand for jeans in my growing up year and once I read that every household in US has x number of Levi's. That article said that number has gone down from past Since I am not able to find the jeans I like or like the jeans I find in most stores, I am not the best judge for popular taste but I guess Levi's is not the cherished brand any longer. Actually I feel it is the brand for “older” people like me.

5th March 2009 :: Levi's Workers - For work and Play

Enough about the messages, let's get down to the product. I have bought a couple of trousers from Levi's. Both from one of their range called “Levi's Workers”. The name and some of the text inside the garment and on the label made me feel these trousers are going to be sturdy and durable. The reality is far from it. One of the trousers that have been washed a few times has faded.

4th March 2009 :: Levi's double appearance

Yesterday I mentioned the message printed on the inside of the Levi's trouser and how no one is going to read it. I now feel I was wrong. That message is going to be read by the most important person, your customer. The logos, the big names on the garments have become fashionable recently and they should be treated as bonus. Before people started paying the big companies for advertising their products, anything printed on the garment was on the inside which was limited to the brand name and washing instructions. In this case Levi's has managed to achieve more then it set out to, it has found me who has communicated their message to a lot of others too.

3rd March 2009 :: Commitment

I have mentioned earlier in my posts that I feel it is very important to pay attention to details for a successful brand. This and the next few posts will have images of Levi's trousers. The pocket of the trouser has some text printed on it which talks about how Levi's is committed to quality. When a company takes the initiative to communicate a message that will not be read by anyone except for the person who is going to wear the trousers, it makes you feel more confident about the product.